Stay at Home Moms - what is your activity level???

Hi everyone,

I've just lost my desk job (thanks economy) and now have the wonderful scary opportunity of being a stay at home mom.  I'm used to pretty much a sedentary life style and know that being home chasing after and dancing with my 21 month old and caring for my 5 month old plus cleaning more and keeping up with the house is going to be a big difference. 

My question is...do I select a different activity status and which one would it be?  I feel like I fall in the middle of lightly active and moderately active.

What is your activity level?

i just put mine at the light activity. i feel like if i put it any higher then i can't add some of the things that i do to the activity log cause it would already add it in for me. i like to add my 600 calories of running! it makes me feel better. i've been trying to figure out what to put my activity level at too. i had it at sedentary but i felt like i could up it because of all the cleaning and such. good luck.

Most sites say that stay at home mom's are lightly active -- between juggling kids, laundry, grocery shopping, household chores and everything else that stay at hom moms do.  How you choose to set your profile, however, could depend on how you log or don't log activities.  If you set your profile as lightly active and know that in an average day you burn roughly 200 calories from that "activity" (depending on your age, weight, etc.) it is an easy way to keep an eye on your burn meter without logging specifics.

I've found that I prefer to set my activity level as sedentary and log my exercise (not the chasing after my kids) on top of this. It helps me keep at least a 200 calorie deficit which I use as a fudge factor for all the things I eyeball and don't weigh. (I'm in a maintenance mode although I wouldn't mind losing the elusive 2 pounds to reach 115). 

So it really comes down to what makes sense and what works for you.

I guess it depends what you do with the kids. I feel like chasing around after my 2 1/2 year old twins is at least moderately active - but then I walk everywhere we possibly can (sometimes a couple of hours at a time) and I spend a lot of time chasing after them in the park or in the garden!

Good luck

i have a 4 yr old girl, 3 yr old girl, and 18mth boy. i also have a 4 month old bullmastiff puppy. i have no dish washer and do all the dishes, laundery, ect myself. my husband works about 60+ hours a wk 3rd shift so i literally do ALL the house work and care for the kids and dog. i also work out to dvds 5 or 6 days a week for around an a hour a day. i don't log activities though (i just don't have time lol).

so i put myself at moderatly active. i hope i'm not over estimating myself...i've been losing 2lbs every week though so i think i'm doing okay.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for your replies.  I think I'll do lightly active and go from there.  I'm actually quite excited for this opportunity and am hoping that I'll drop a little weight from it. 

2babettermom - I would totally log my activity as moderately active too!  It looks to be working for you so keep it up.

aj1rafn - I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at.  Sorry!  Maybe I misinterpreted something?

Thanks!

hahaha, i didn't know what he was getting at either!!!!  i am thinking because he has so much free time, and us mom's are constantly running around with not enough time, that maybe he could be a manny!!!! hmmmm.....i don't think anyone should be complaining to moms about how they don't know how to spend all the free time that they have!!!! it did give me a good laugh though. sorry that my laugh was at your expense AJ, no offense meant....

I sahm with my two kids.  Between housework and running around with the kids, I put my activity level as light.  Then I only log extra activities, like the days I go for a run.  I also am hoping that this works out fairly accurately.  I hope you enjoy this time you have at home with your kids. 

With the housework and my 4yr old....and the dogs I'd say moderate for most of the day while we're home.  Sweeping and mopping are basically daily chores with sand here (or very sandy soil) that gets Everywhere!!!  And with 6 people in the family, I don't even have to tell you how much laundry there is.  I don't do as much running around with the older kids home from school but I'm still very busy.

Getting ready to go to make a change to Very active since I'm ready to start retraining!  Need to find an alternative source for water (especially with spring break insanity) and I haven't gotten my new bike (still saving ) but I can totally work on my runs!  It'll be nice to start pushing myself a little again.   

My youngest is 4, so I'm not quite as active as when my kids were toddlin all over the place. I have mine set at sedentary and only count it if I do deliberate exercise.

i am a mother of 4 or 3 at home 1 in school.and i'd like to say i get alot of exersize but really i am so worn out i spend alot of my time on the couch or wiping noses.an d cooking but we don't get out and go too much. hopefully it will be better for you just wait and see how it goes.-jennsterb